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United States Patent |
5,115,992
|
Nugent
|
May 26, 1992
|
Food cutting machine
Abstract
The invention comprises a machine for slicing food products into then
strips. Two stacks of spaced, axially aligned circular blades are
positioned so as to be driven in counterrotating intermeshing
relationship. Each of the blades comprises a central hub connected to a
peripheral cutting ring by a plurality of spokes. Spacers are provided
between adjacent ones of the circular blades. The stacked blades are
assembled with the spokes of succeeding ones of the blades displaced by a
predetermined angular amount, so that the spokes define a plurality of
helical paths through the interior of the stacks. As the blades are
rotated the food product is sliced by being forced between the spaced
blades, and the resulting strips are deposited within the interior of the
stack to travel along the helical paths defined by the spokes and be
discharged at the end of the stack.
Inventors:
|
Nugent; Duane C. (344 East Second St., Perrysburg, OH 43551)
|
Appl. No.:
|
653001 |
Filed:
|
February 8, 1991 |
Current U.S. Class: |
241/236; 83/501; 241/295 |
Intern'l Class: |
B02C 004/08 |
Field of Search: |
241/100,236,295
83/500,501,502
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
342811 | Jun., 1886 | Root | 241/295.
|
3656697 | Apr., 1972 | Nelson | 241/236.
|
3960335 | Jun., 1976 | Haberle | 241/236.
|
Foreign Patent Documents |
274938 | Jun., 1914 | DE | 241/236.
|
138205 | Feb., 1934 | DE | 241/236.
|
2524086 | Dec., 1976 | DE | 241/236.
|
1066833 | Jan., 1984 | SU | 241/236.
|
421627 | Dec., 1934 | GB | 241/236.
|
2169222 | Jul., 1986 | GB | 241/295.
|
Primary Examiner: Rosenbaum; Mark
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Marshall & Melhorn
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A machine for slicing food products comprising first and second stacks
of axially aligned, spaced circular knife blades, each said circular knife
blade comprising a central hub section and a circumferential cutting ring
interconnected by a plurality of spaced spokes, said stacks being
positioned so that upon rotation the circumferential cutting rings of the
knife blades of said first stack intermesh with and overlap the
circumferential cutting rings of the knife blades of said second stack
each succeeding circular knife blade in each said stack being displaced by
a predetermined angular amount from the preceding knife blade whereby said
spaced spokes of said stacks of axially aligned knife blades define
helical paths through said stacks from end to end thereof, and drive means
for rotating said first and second stacks in opposite directions about
their longitudinal axes whereby a said food product supplied to the
confluence of said opposite rotating first and second stacks is sliced
between said cutting rings into elongated strips and said strips are
forced between said rings and deposited within said helical paths defined
by said spaced spokes for carriage along said helical paths and discharge
at an end of said blade stacks.
2. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 1 wherein said
intermeshing circumferential cutting rings of said first and second stacks
of knife blades are in face-to-face contact.
3. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
circumferential cutting rings are of rectangular cross-section comprising
a pair of spaced radial side walls, an annular outer end wall and an
annular inner end wall, the radial side walls of the cutting rings in each
one of said stacks engaging the radial side walls of the cutting rings in
the other one of said stacks in face-to-face contact as said stacks
rotate.
4. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 3 including
pressure applicator means for axially urging said cutting rings into said
face-to-face contact.
5. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 3, wherein said
annular outer end wall of at least some of the said cutting rings in at
least one of said stacks is serrated.
6. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 5, wherein the
annular outer end wall of each of said cutting rings in said one stack is
serrated.
7. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 3, wherein said
annular outer end walls are serrated.
8. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 1, wherein each
said circular knife blade includes at least six said spokes equally spaced
therearound, and locating means for positioning each said knife blade in
any one of a plurality of angular positions within said stacks.
9. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 8, wherein each
said circular knife blade includes eight said spokes and said locating
means is adapted to position said knife blade in any one of five said
angular positions.
10. A machine for slicing food products comprising a supporting base, first
and second spaced, parallel shafts mounted upon said base for rotation
about their longitudinal axes, a plurality of circular knife blades
mounted upon each of said shafts in spaced, stacked relationship and
comprising first and second stacks of said knife blades upon said first
and second shafts, respectively, said first and second stacks of knife
blades overlapping and intermeshing with one another, each said knife
blade comprising a hub portion and a circumferential cutting ring
interconnected by a plurality of spoke members spaced around said knife
blade, said knife blades being positioned upon said shafts with successive
knife blades in each said stack displaced by a predetermined angular
amount from the preceding knife blade whereby said spaced spokes define a
plurality of helical paths through said stacks from end to end thereof,
and drive means coupled to said first and second shafts for simultaneously
rotating said shafts in opposite directions whereby a said food product
supplied to the confluence of said oppositely rotating first and second
stacks is sliced between said cutting rings into elongated strips and said
strips are forced between said rings and deposited within said helical
paths defined by said spaced spoke for carriage along said helical paths
and discharge at an end of said blade stacks.
11. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 10, including a
housing enclosing said first and second stacks of knife blades, said
housing including a feed opening positioned to receive said food products
and deposit said food products onto the converging counterrotating first
and second stacks of knife blades, means collecting the sliced food
product discharged from the ends of said rotating stacks, and an outlet
opening for discharging the sliced food product from said housing.
12. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 11, wherein
said housing includes a cover plate over said first and second stacks of
knife blades, and including at least one spray nozzle carried by said
cover plate for depositing a spray of lubricant upon said knife blades.
13. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 10, wherein
said first and second stacks of knife blades comprise a first cutting
assembly, and including a second one of said cutting assemblies at the
ends of said first and second shafts opposite said first cutting assembly.
14. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 10, including a
backing plate affixed to each of said first and second shafts for rotation
therewith behind said first and second stacks of knife blades, and a
locator/drive rod projecting from each said backing plate through the
associated stack of knife blades.
15. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 14, including
spacer members between the spaced knife blades of each said stack, each
said hub portion including a plurality of openings spaced radially
therearound said locator/drive rod extending through a selected one of
said openings for positioning said knife blade in selected angular
positions.
16. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 15, including
means rollingly engaging the outermost one of said cutting rings at the
end of said stacks opposite said backing plates for urging said
overlapping cutting rings toward said backing plate and into face to face
engagement.
17. A machine for slicing food products as claimed in claim 15, including
means at the ends of said locator/drive rods remote from said backing
plate for locking said rods to their associated shaft for rotation
therewith.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the cutting or slicing of food
products, and more particularly to the reduction of selected food products
to particles or fragments having predetermined dimensional and shape
characteristics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years it has become increasingly popular to incorporate food
products such as seeds. nuts and raisins in breakfast cereals. With the
trend toward greater awareness of the effect of diet upon a healthy
life-style, and the perceived beneficial effect that natural foods can
have upon the state of one's health, it has become desirable to
incorporate a number of food products not heretofore generally employed
for that purpose into dry cereals. Thus, it has been found that various
types of dried berries and other small food products may advantageously be
added to dry cereals to enhance their flavor and appeal Among the dried
products, by way of example, are cherries and cranberries. Such products
in their dried state are larger than desirable for incorporation into the
cereal, and the individual fruits or berries are preferably reduced to
fragments or particles of relatively small size which can be mixed with
the dry cereal. To that end, it has been found that thin, elongated strips
or slivers of the dried fruits or berries are particularly well suited for
this purpose.
In preparatiou for addition to cereal, the raw fruit products are subjected
to a sugar-infusion process and then dried to a moisture content on the
order of 7 to 13 percent by weight. Numerous machines have been proposed
and are commercially available for slicing or dicing fruits and
vegetables. Some of these machines employ spaced, rotating circular blades
for cutting the products into strips. However none has proven entirely
satisfactory for cutting dried, sugar infused fruit and berry products
into thin strips as desired for addition to breakfast cereals and other
food products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has as its principal object the provision of a relatively
inexpensive device which will slice dried, sugar infused berries and the
like food products into thin elongated strips in an efficient and
trouble-free manner. Two stacks of spaced, axially-aligned circular blades
are positioned so as to be driven in counterrotating intermeshing
relationship with one another. Each stack of blades is mounted on a shaft,
and each individual blade comprises a central hub connected to a
peripheral ring by a plurality of spokes. Spacers substantially equal in
thickness to the blades are provided on the shafts between adjacent ones
of the circular blades.
The cutting blades are mounted for rotation with the shaft and are disposed
on the shaft in repeating groups wherein the spokes of succeeding ones of
the blades in each group are displaced by a predetermined angular amount.
The spokes of the first blade of each succeeding group are displaced from
the spokes of the last blade of the preceding group by a like angular
amount. The spokes thus define a series of helical paths through the
interior of the stacks of blades The dried food product is deposited from
a hopper onto the blades so as to be carried into the confluence of the
counterrotating intermeshing blades. The peripheral rings of the blades
overlap sufficiently so that the food product is forced between adjacent
spaced blades and cut into strips thereby and the cut strips are deposited
within the interior of the rotating blades. The cut strips are carried
along the helical paths defined by the spokes of the rotating blades and
discharged through the end of the blade stack for subsequent processing
Nozzles may be provided for spraying a vegetable oil on the dried food
product in the feeding area of the machine as a lubricant for facilitating
cutting of the product.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout:
FIG. 1 is a schematic end elevational view of a machine embodying the
invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the machine, with parts
removed;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary end elevational view, illustrating the
intermeshed blades and roller pressure applicator;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 4--4 of
FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 5--5 of
FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged end view of the stacked intermeshing circular blades,
illustrating the staggered, offset relationship of the spokes;
FIG. 7 is an exploded side elevational view, with parts in section,
illustrating the mounting of the spaced circular blades on the shafts; and
FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along line 8--8 of
FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, there is
illustrated generally at 10 a food cutting machine embodying the invention
and including a cutting assembly 12 mounted upon a conventional structural
framework 14 resting upon a supporting surface 16 such as a factory floor.
The machine is adapted to receive a food product through a feed opening 18
and deposit the cut product through a discharge opening 20 onto a conveyor
22 for transfer to appropriate storage or processing equipment (not
shown). The framework includes a generally rectangular base 24, which may
be formed as of interconnected side and end angle members 26 and 28,
respectively, supported open legs 30. Shafts 32 and 33 are mounted in
spaced, parallel relationship upon the base 24 for rotation within
bearings blocks 34 affixed to the side members 26 as by bolts 35. The
shafts extend outwardly beyond the base 24 for carrying the cutting or
slicing mechanism as will be hereinafter described.
The shafts 32 and 33 are driven as by means of a suitably controlled
variable speed electric motor 36 and associated gear box 38 mounted upon a
support plate 40 carried by the base 24. The gear box has an output shaft
42 upon which is mounted a drive gear 44. The gear 44 drivingly engages a
first driven gear 46 keyed to the shaft 32. The gear 46 in turn drivingly
engages a second driven gear 48 keyed to the shaft 33. The driven gears 46
and 48 are of equal diameter and tooth pitch so that upon operation of the
motor 36 to drive the gear 44, the shafts 32 and 33 will be driven at
equal speeds in a counterrotating manner as indicated by the arrows in
FIGS. 1 and 6.
While a single cutting assembly 12 may be provided as indicated above and
as shown in FIG. 2, the shafts 32 and 33 preferably extend in either
direction from the base 24 for operating dual assemblies 12 in order to
double the cutting or slicing capacity of the machine Since the assemblies
are essentially identical, only one mechanism has been illustrated in the
drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, it will be
understood that a second assembly 12 may be provided as shown generally in
phantom in FIG. 2.
The novel cutting or slicing assembly 12 as will be apparent in FIG. 2,
includes a slicer mechanism, identified generally at 50, enclosed within a
housing 52. The slicer mechanism comprises a plurality of circular knife
blades 54 and 56 mounted in axially spaced relationship upon the shafts 32
and 33, respectively, so as to overlap and intermesh as will be
hereinafter described. The blades 54 and 56 are of generally identical
construction and differ only in that the circumferential surfaces of the
blades 54 in the preferred embodiment are provided with serrations or
depressions to assist in drawing the individual units of the food product
into the confluence of the counterrotating blades. Thus, as best seen in
FIG. 6 each of the knife blades 54 and 56 comprises a central hub section
58 having a central opening 60 for receiving one of the shafts 32 or 33. A
plurality of spokes or ribs 62, eight in the illustrated embodiment,
extend outwardly from the hub section at equally spaced intervals
therearound to a circumferential cutting ring 64 defining the cutting
portion of the blade. The blades are of plate-like planar construction and
their thickness will be determined by the thickness desired for the cut
fragments or particles of the food product.
The cutting rings are of rectangular cross section, and the outer
peripheral wall of the ring of the blade 54 is provided with a pattern of
serrations or depressions 66. The spokes 62 extend generally tangentially
from the hub 58 and in the preferred embodiment, eight such spokes are
disposed at equally spaced intervals around the knife blades. The blades
of the illustrated embodiment are designed to be mounted upon the shafts
32 and 33 in repeating groups of five blades in order to achieve the
desired staggered pattern for the spokes, and to that end each blade is
provided with a pattern of five locating openings 68 in the central hub 58
equally spaced around the central opening 60 for receiving a locating and
drive member when assembled on the machine. As hereinabove mentioned, in
order to provide a shearing action between the intermeshing cutting rings
64 of the blades 54 and 56, the cutting rings are of rectangular cross
section as shown in FIG. 7. Thus, as the square edges of the rotating
knife blades 54 and 56 come together they will cleanly sever the food
product as it is forced into the space between the adjacent blades.
Turning now to a description of the assembled slicer mechanism 50, it will
be understood that the serrated and plain knife blades 54 and 56,
respectively, may be assembled in various combinations as found suitable
for cutting or slicing particular ones of the many food products to be
processed. Thus, for some products all serrated blades may be employed on
one of the shafts 32 or 33 and all plain blades on the other. In other
situations, the plain and serrated blades may be alternated on each shaft
or may be assembled in groups of one or the other on each shaft. It may be
possible to employ all plain blades 56 on both shafts for some products,
and it may be desirable to employ all serrated blades 54 on both shafts
for others. The size, consistency moisture content and degree of sugar
infusion, as well as other factors, will determine the particular
arrangement to be employed. One configuration found Particularly suitable
for the slicing of dried, sugar-infused cranberries is illustrated in the
drawings. Thus, as will be seen in FIG. 2 there is provided on the shaft
32 a plurality of spaced serrated knife blades 54 and on the shaft 33 of
plurality of spaced plain knife blades 56 offset axially from the serrated
blades by one blade thickness so that the two groups of blades overlap and
intermesh The number of knife blades in the assembly may vary depending
upon the slicing capacity to be attained.
The manner in which the blades 54 and 56 are assembled on the shafts 32 and
33, respectively, is best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7. Thus, each of the shafts
32 and 33 is formed with an end section 70 of reduced diameter upon which
the knife blades are mounted and which creates a radial flange 72 along
the shaft A backing plate 74 is received on the end section 70 in abutting
relationship with the radial flange 72. The backing plate includes a
central recess 76 within which a drive insert 78 is received. The backing
plate and drive insert are secured to the shaft for rotation therewith as
by a conventional slot and key combination 80. The drive insert 78
includes a recess 82 for receiving the end of a locator/drive rod 84. The
locator/drive rod is secured to the drive insert as by a stud bolt 86
threaded into the end of the rod.
The first knife blade 52 or 54 is assembled on the end section 70 of the
shaft 32 or 34, with the rod 84 received in one of the locating openings
68, so as to abut the backing plate 74. There is next assembled on the
section 70 a spacer 88 having a configuration similar to the central hub
section 58 but with a single opening 90 therein for accommodating the rod
84. The spacer will, of course, be of a thickness substantially equal to
that of the knife blades so that the overlapping cutting rings 64 will be
in face to face contact with one another. Also, it will be apparent that
while on one of the shafts 32 and 33 a knife blade 54 or 56 will abut
directly against the backing plate 74 as shown in FIG. 7, on the other of
the shafts a spacer 88 will abut the backing plate and drive insert 78 in
order to offset the knife blades on the two shafts to accommodate
intermeshing or interleaving of the cutting rings as shown in FIG. 6.
Knife blades and spacers are alternately positioned on the shafts 32 and
33, with the cutting rings 64 being overlapped and interleaved, until the
predetermined number of knives has been assembled. In accordance with an
important feature of the invention as seen in FIGS. 6 and 8, the knife
blades are assembled on the shafts 32 and 33 in angularly offset relation
so that the spokes 62 of the blade assembly define a series of helical
paths 92 through the interior of the assembly. Thus, upon operation of the
slicer mechanism 50, sliced or cut fragments of the food product
discharged into the interior of the assembly are carried along the helical
paths through the assembly by the rotating spokes and discharged at the
end of the assembly. The fragments drop into the housing 52 for discharge
by gravity through the opening 20.
More particularly, the knife blades are assembled on the shafts 32 and 33
and the locator/drive rod 84 with each succeeding blade angularly offset
from the preceding blade in the direction of rotation by a multiple of the
angular distance between adjacent ones of the locating openings 68. In
other words, in the embodiment illustrated having five such locating
openings, adjacent knife blades are offset as by a multiple of 72.degree.,
for example 216.degree.. The pattern is repeated in groups of five knife
blades so that across the blade assembly, the spokes 62 will be positioned
as illustrated in FIG. 8. Of course, as shown in FIG. 6 the knife blades
on the shaft 32 will be inverted from those on the shaft 33 so that the
food product will be discharged at the same end of the counterrotating
knife blade assembly.
The assembled blades are secured upon the shafts 32 and 33 and urged
rearwardly against the backing plates 74 by a compression and drive
assembly 94 affixed to the distal ends of the shafts More particularly as
will be seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 a spacer 88 is positioned on the shaft 33
outside the last knife blade 56 and a spacer 96 equivalent in thickness to
one of the knife blades and a spacer 88 combined, is positioned on the
shaft 32 adjacent the last knife blade 54 so that the outer surfaces of
the spacers 88 and 96 will be generally coplanar with the stacks of blades
engaging the backing plates The spacer 96, like the spacer 88, is provided
with an opening for receiving the locator/drive rod 84.
A bearing member 98 fitting on the shaft 32 or 33 includes a first radial
flange 100 bearing against the spacer 88 or 96, as the case may be, and a
second annular bearing flange 102 surrounding the shaft and received
within a bushing 104 carried by and end plate 106 interconnecting the
remote ends of the shafts 32 and 33. The radial flange includes an opening
within which the end of the locator/drive rod 84 is received. The spacers
88 and 96 are keyed to the shaft 32 or 33 for rotation therewith as by a
conventional slot and key arrangement 108. The spacer thus insures that
the distal end of the locator/drive rod will remain in alignment with the
associated shaft 32 or 33 and that the knife blades will be driven and
remain in their predetermined staggered relationship. A collar 110
surrounds the shaft and engages the bearing flange 102 and the bushing
104, and the collar is urged axially against the bearing flange and
bushing by a washer 112 secured by a stud bolt 114 threaded into the shaft
32 or 33.
As heretofore explained and as shown in FIG. 6, the knife blades 54 and 56
are positioned so that the cutting rings 64 overlap sufficiently to insure
that the cut or sliced fragments are ejected from between the spaced knife
blades. The cutting rings are in face to face frictional contact in the
overlapping area in order to provide the desired shearing action upon the
product. The knife blades are generally sufficiently rigid to maintain the
shearing action as a result of the pressure applied by the end assembly
94. However, in order to insure that adequate face-to-face contact is
maintained between the cutting rings 64, a pressure applicator may be
provided as shown generally at 116 in FIGS. 3 and 5 Thus, an arm 118 is
pivotally mounted at 120 upon a bracket 122 affixed to the end plate 106.
At its free end the arm carries a pressure roller 124 journalled at 126
and positioned to project through an opening 128 for rolling engagement
with the surface of the outermost one of the cutting rings 64. A post 130
affixed to the end plate extends through the arm 118 and carries a
compression spring 132 adapted to be adjustably urged against the arm as
by an adjusting nut 134. Thus the pressure roller 124 urges the cutting
rings 64 of the rotating knife blades 54 and 56 into face-to-face contact,
with a force which can be adjusted by manipulation of the adjusting nut
124.
The housing 52 may be of any suitable construction for enclosing the slicer
mechanism 50 and providing ready access to the slicer mechanism for
maintenance and cleaning. To that end, the housing may comprise a rear
closure plate 136 affixed to the base 24 as by straps 138. A box-like
enclosure including opposite end walls 140, a front wall 142 and a cover
plate 144 is suitably configured to be removably supported upon the rear
closure plate in a conventional manner. The cover plate includes the feed
opening 18 through which the food product is admitted in a controlled
manner as from a vibrator feeder thereabove (not shown) to drop onto the
slicer mechanism. As hereinabove indicated, it may be desirable in some
instances to add a vegetable oil lubricant to facilitate the slicing. To
that end spray nozzles 146 connected to a suitably controlled supply of
such lubricant (not shown) may be provided on the cover plate 144.
By way of example. a machine was constructed in accordance with the
invention and operated for slicing dried cranberries which had been
infused with a sugar solution prior to drying. The machine employed fifty
knife blades, twenty-five on one of the shafts having serrated cutting
rings 64 and twenty-five on the other shaft having unserrated or plain
cutting rings. The knife blades had a nominal outside diameter of 12
inches and were formed of type 420 stainless steel having a thickness of
about 0.130 inch. The spacers 88 were of a like material and thickness.
The cutting rings 64 had a width of 1/2 inch and the shafts 32 and 33 were
mounted 113/8 inches apart, resulting in an overlap of 5/8 inch of the
cutting rings. Thus, each cutting ring extended 1/8 inch beyond the
interior surface of the adjacent cutting rings of the other stack. The
serrated knife blades were provided with depressions of 3/8 inch diameter
about 0.060 inch in depth, at 3.degree. intervals around the periphery.
The machine was operated with the knife blades rotating at 37.5 r.p.m.
and was found to perform well in slicing the cranberries into elongated
particles having the desired thickness.
It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and
described are to be taken as illustrative embodiments only of the same,
and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts. as
well as various procedural changes may be resorted to without departing
from the spirit of the invention.
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